Gov. Quinn says he expects vote soon on income tax hike

Gov. Pat Quinn said he is working to have the Illinois House vote this afternoon on raising the state income tax.

State Capitol Bureau

Gov. Pat Quinn said he is working to have the Illinois House vote this afternoon on raising the state income tax.

Quinn, though, refused to talk about further changes he might offer to the plan to entice more votes, including making it temporary rather than permanent.

"We're trying to get everything we can in there," Quinn said of talks to preserve tax breaks included in his proposal.

Quinn initially proposed increasing the personal income tax by 50 percent, from a rate of 3 percent to 4.5 percent. At the same time, he wanted to increase the personal exemption from $2,000 to $6,000.

Earlier this week, he offered an alternative that only raised the personal exemption to $3,000, but also increased breaks for property taxes paid and under the earned income tax credit. He stuck by his demand that the tax be permanent rather than temporary.